Silver Wings
by Ahnura
Summary: He had given up his voice to observe the thrill of battle from afar. Never from that point on would he be able to create the beautiful, fleeting moments of true art. But he would settle to observe the one who saved him from death’s cold grip. DeiSaku
1. Savior

_._

_I drew the poison from the summer's sting,  
And eased the fire out of your fevered skin._

.

He had all the time in the world to waste according to what _he_ wanted. He could spend an entire day lazing around, painting, or blowing things to smithereens. _Anything_. It was finally _his_ turn to call the shots in his life for the first time since he had joined the Akatsuki. The organization just wouldn't leave the budding artist alone _unless_ he was dead. He ultimately realized that the key to his freedom lied in his destruction. The bomb-expert had come to attention to that fact mere _days_ before his untimely _death_.

He walked through the forest at his own leisurely pace, dressed as a common wandering artist starving for inspiration. Every step he took made his art supplies gently clink together in his green knapsack. The blonde stared down at his gloved hands; they were black with a blue symbol stitched on them, a faux symbol that looked like it was meant for sealing kekkei genkai away unless absolutely necessary. This was done to deter anyone curious about his other mouths. He unconsciously placed one of his hands on the left side of his chest, where the fourth mouth _used_ to be. Ever since he had 'killed himself' in the battle with the youngest Uchiha, he realized that the mouth on his chest was a 'one use only' kind of thing; useless really.

Deidara adjusted the strap on his knapsack to ease the pressure on his shoulders. The pack wasn't heavy, but the braided straps were thin, prone to digging themselves into the carriers' skin. Ever since he went into 'hiding', he had taken, or rather, forced himself to paint in place of his other hobby. Overtime, he did eventually start liking the smell of the raw, mineral pigments, egg whites, and clean, soapy smelling brushes. It was a subtle pastime, good for knocking off minutes of the hours he wasted every day.

Setting off bombs was _fun_ and all, but he couldn't risk being showy or worse; found _alive_. He _had_ a bounty on his blonde head the size of the Fire Country a few years back. His killer would have received 50 million yen; a _fair_ price considering that he had kidnapped the Kazekage. That he had _killed_ said Kazekage. That he had murdered a countless number of ninja from various countries. That he was associated with the Akatsuki. And to top it all off like a cherry on a sundae; he had gotten away with it.

Since that time, he had kept a low profile and edited his appearance a bit; his once long mid-length hair was now cut short, even his bangs. The blonde now kept all of his hair up in a ponytail with the exception of a few of his short bangs. The artist had seen from the villages he had visited recently that his head had _finally_ been taken off the list for collection; it had already been a long time since the day he killed himself. Maybe he had a shot at a normal life.

_Pshh,_ He scoffed at the idea and dejectedly kicked a stone out of his path. _You've never been _**normal**_, un. You faked_ _your _own _suicide.._.!

He sighed as he ducked slightly to avoid hitting his head on the bark of a fallen tree. It had been a whole 7 years since his suicide. He successfully deceived that Uchiha brat, Sasuke, his organization, and the damn bastard who masqueraded as a clumsy idiot by the name of Tobi. The world now knew him as Madara Uchiha.

The artist couldn't believe what he had heard about his former partner at the beginning of the 4th ninja war 6 years previously. The blonde was beside himself in rage for the next 3 months after receiving the information about Tob—Madara. He had been played like a _sap_ right into his hands. He couldn't believe that he had one pulled over on him by the man who annoyed him the most.

_The Gods have got a sick fucking sense of humor, un._

But alas, as his thoughts digressed while taking his stroll through the forest, he came across the putrid smell of burning flesh, burning wood, and blood. Deidara knit his brows. He shouldn't have been anywhere near a controlled country. The artist had only been walking for 20 minutes; there was _no_ way he could've gotten into the Fire Country from Taigakure already. He let his curiosity get the best of him and went to go check out the scene.

However, actually _getting_ there proved to be a challenge itself; the entire area was riddled with fallen, charred trees and rubble. There was a bunch metal stuck in the bark and in the earth; a sign that someone had been fighting with kunai or shuriken. Upon closer inspection, however, the pieces were all jagged as if they had been torn apart in an explosion.

_Explosive tags_. He told himself as he saw even more metal protruding in even more areas around him, telling him that someone had been using a _lot_ of kunai with explosive tags. _Looks like _someone_ had a field day with the bombs._

Deidara ducked underneath another fallen tree as observed from behind the bushes with caution; he had a bit of backup clay in his pocket to fling at some one if the dumb _ass_ decided it was a good idea to attack him. There were several people fighting; an ANBU from Konoha and several Taigakure nin. He watched in delight from his hiding place; the battle was thrilling, _exciting_ even. One of the ANBU threw their kunai around wildly. Deidara was in rapture from the sight of the explosions from that point on; it was feeding his suppressed need for blowing shit up.

As the fight escalated, and two of the 3 the ninja from Taigakure were blown to bits, Deidara eventually got caught in the middle. The Konoha Shinobi had thrown a kunai at their opposite enemy nin. The waterfall Shinobi deflected the weapon, and it tore through the air towards Deidara. His lightning reflexes kicked in as he dove out of his hiding spot into the clearing to avoid getting blown to bits. The fighters froze, taken aback by their surprise visitor.

"Ignore the commoner, _I'm_ your opponent!" The Taigakure Nin boomed as he lunged at the ANBU ninja. Deidara quickly got to his feet and managed a few seconds to contemplate his next move; would he join the fight? Or would he flee? Before he got to initiate his plan, the ANBU quickly shot towards him. The Konoha ninja grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and threw him across the clearing, away from the battle while dodging shuriken from the enemy Shinobi.

Deidara landed roughly sideways in the dirt. He growled as he dusted himself off—His ninja skills were _lacking_ somewhat. He couldn't even dodge the Leaf Ninja coming after him. The Taigakure ninja targeted Deidara as _bait_ for the ANBU ninja. In a flash, the assailant disappeared before the ANBU's eyes and reappeared behind Deidara.

"Shit—"Deidara growled as the man from the Waterfall Country hauled him to his feet and pressed a cold kunai against his neck and his hands behind his back. The ANBU dropped their attack stance at the sight of the smirking Taigakure ninja. Deidara cursed himself for not bothering to keep him his skills as a Shinobi as sharp as the blade against his neck.

"Leave the civilian _alone_," The ANBU said dangerously while lowering their sword. Deidara unconsciously noted how...Feminine the voice was.

"You give me the scroll you carry on your person, and I will let this man go." The Taigakure ninja demanded. The ANBU kunoichi was silent for a few moments before she unbuttoned a pocket and let a scroll fall into her hand.

"Open it! Let me see the writing!" The waterfall ninja commanded as the ANBU ninja opened the scroll slowly. Deidara noticed at how the man who was holding him as hostage eyes bugged a little when the Konoha kunoichi flipped the scroll to show him. The ANBU suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"What the—" The man gawked and looked around. Deidara took his as his chance to escape. He quickly pried his captor's hands away from his throat before he sent his own fist into the ninja's jaw. Deidara smirked when he heard the satisfying sound of bone crunching followed by a howl of pain

"Oh no, you're _not_ getting away!" The waterfall ninja roared as he quickly caught Deidara by the arm. The blonde growled in annoyance as he tried throwing another fist at the man. The Shinobi caught his fist and twisted his arm. Deidara cursed as he quickly tried to knee the other man in the gut but was unsuccessful. The ex-Akatsuki damned himself for his loose life at that moment because he saw a flash of metal in the corner of his eye.

_Poof—_

The kunoichi from Leaf reappeared in a cloud of smoke behind the waterfall ninja. Deidara felt the man tense up. The blonde thought that he was out of the fire until the dying Taigakure ninja slashed his throat. Deidara went ridged as he felt a warm liquid pour down his chest.

_Shit._ He thought as both he and the dead waterfall ninja fell to the floor. Deidara's hands flew to his throat as he heard the ANBU gasp. The blonde's eyes widened at the puddle of blood that came from his neck and realized the Taigakure hadn't cut a major artery. The ANBU quickly rolled Deidara onto his back and tore off her gloves. The ex-Iwa ninja felt a calm energy sweep over the wound before blacking out from means by which he would not remember.

-

-

-

His eyes cracked open to a white room and the faint smell of fabric softener. His left arm was cold for he was hooked up to an IV to replenish fluids that he probably didn't have in his body anymore. Deidara donned a usual green hospital gown and he could tell that his hair wasn't in its regular up do anymore. He tried sitting up, but his attempts were in vain. Three very wide glowing black straps held him fast to the bed he was laying on. Deidara went into a slight panic at the restraints. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened prior to him blacking out. His throat was cut and the ANBU tried to save him.

_Damn it, I'm in _hell_ aren't I?_ He thought to himself as he sighed and looked around. After several minutes, he finally decided that the most logical place that he could possible be in was a hospital. Most likely a hospital in Konohagakure. He knit his brows and realized that the ANBU must have recognized him; that was why he was strapped down the way he was. Lost in his thoughts, Deidara didn't notice the door creak open and someone entering.

"You're awake." The person stated gently. Deidara looked up and could have sworn his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

She was clad in an outfit used universally by doctors; complete with a large red cross on her back and a stethoscope in her breast pocket. She was genuinely pretty; all of her features were soft with the exception of the long rose colored hair tied in a ponytail. What struck him the most were the thin limbed gorgeous green eyes that smiled.

He recognized those eyes from 8 years ago. Right after he defeated the host of the Shukaku, the 5th Kazekage.

_It's the girl who had killed Sasori...! _

"You were out for a two days." She said as she picked up a clip board that hung on the wall near the door and jot something down with the pen she produced from her pocket.

"How are you feeling?"

He realized that she did _not_ recognize him. The blonde was silently thankful. She looked up at him from her clipboard and looked at him, waiting for an answer. Deidara opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out. His eyes widened as he tried to speak again.

Nothing.

The lady-doctor looked at him strangely and walked over to his bedside. She undid the straps that held him down first.

"I'm sorry, we couldn't identify you from what you were carrying; it's standard procedure to subdue any unidentified people in our care." She apologized and handed him the clipboard. He sat up and looked at her in confusion. To this she said, "Write."

Deidara stared at her for a moment longer before looking down at the clip board. He could not risk his neck _again._ Deidara would not ask about Sasori, or anything pertaining to what happened before the 4th ninja war. He organized his thoughts before hastily writing a message down on the paper.

'My voice is gone'

She looked down at his writing and nodded. She reached for a mirror that was lying on his bedside and showed him his reflection. Deidara's face was fine overall, but, he had a cast around his neck.

"He must have severed your vocal cords." She said as he let him hold the mirror. "I'm sorry. I've...Never dealt with an injury such as that. But at least you're still alive, huh?"

She offered him a warm smile that made him forget that she had killed his partner all those years ago for a moment. He remembered how unpopular he had become with the ladies right after his grand finale with Sasuke. Dressing up so that no one recognized him had injured his status among women because they _loved_ his long hair. It was so bad that he hadn't been given even as much as a glance from the women he stayed around because he had done _that _well in looking the part of a pauper.

"I suppose you're wondering what happened to the Shinobi that hurt you. He's dead, it's ok. I'm the ninja that um...Saved you." She said as she watched him give her a suspicious look.

"Don't worry, we're in the 2nd best hospital you could possibly be in; we're a few miles south of the Taigakure border in the Fire Country. I'm stationed here for the next year or so." She smiled again. Deidara sighed as he looked away to assess his situation. He was being treated at a hospital in the Fire Country by the girl who had killed his partner years ago. Her teammates would surely recognize him; he was most worried about the famous copy-cat ninja, Hatake Kakashi.

"Ne, I suppose you're hungry." She said as he looked up at her. She laughed gently as he responded by giving her a slow, careful nod. "Ok, umm...Can you write down what you're allergic to, just in case?"

Deidara shook his head as a reply to her question.

"You're not allergic to anything then?"

He nodded this time. She smiled again and held her hands together.

"Oh jeeze, I'm so rude. I forgot to introduce myself; I'm Haruno Sakura or just Sakura if you prefer." She said with an easy grin as Deidara managed a forced smile back to his warden. "I'll be back in 5."

With that, she left the room, leaving him alone to think over what had happened. After a minute, he summed the entirety of the situation all in a single, 3 worded sentence.

He.

Was.

_Doomed._

_._

_And after all of this I am amazed,  
That I am cursed far more than I am praised._

.

-_Silver Wings_ by Thrice


	2. Strawberry

.

_Now I'm twisting up when I'm twisted with you,  
brush so lightly._

.

Deidara stared at the plate that was set before him on his lap. On the center of the, perhaps it was plastic because it certainly wasn't shiny enough to be porcelain, plate sat threes glob of pink, green, and yellow. Deidara looked up at his caretaker with the general look that said:

_Right, what the fuck is this?_

"Jell-O. I can't have you eating real food or else...You know what, I'll tell you later, it's graphic." Sakura said as she placed a spoon on his lap as well. Deidara sighed as he stared intently at the Jell-O on his plate. Sakura laughed; her patient was having a full-blown standoff with the Jell-O. She plucked the spoon off of his lap and carefully cut into the quivering pink mass of strawberry flavored gelatin with the side of the utensil.

"Open wide." Sakura smiled as she lifted it in front of his face. Deidara simply glared at the pinkette as he took the spoon from her and shoved it and the Jell-O into his mouth.

_The hell?_ _She's treating me as if I were a _four _year_ _old, un_. Deidara snorted as he chewed dolefully, gently rubbing the arm that previously had a needle in it for the IV drip to warm it up. Sakura smirked at her charge as he began poking at the flavored blobs.

"Honestly, I don't see what the deal is with the Jell-O. It's not going to _eat_ you." Sakura said as he glared at her again and helped himself to another spoonful. Sakura turned around and pulled a chair over to his bedside before sitting down.

"Basically, you're going to be on one of those diets when, uh...You know when people get their tonsils taken out and all they eat is ice-cream and stuff?" She grinned when he nodded. "Yeah, you're so lucky."

Deidara thought the idea over for a moment. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, eating ice-cream every day and—

_Wait a damn second, un._ Deidara grimaced, disgusted with himself. _I am—was a hardened S-Class _criminal. _I do not fantasize about ice-cream and other petty things. I kill people for fun and I blow shit up for the thrill, un. I should be strangling the pink bitch, un. I should be—_

"I guess the wound will close up in about 3 months." Sakura suddenly told him, crashing his mile a minute train of thought into a mountainside. "But finish your Jell-O first."

Deidara would've grumbled if he could, but that required him having a voice to perform. He soon cleaned the plate off of all the Jell-O, and he took note that the green was kiwi, and the yellow was pineapple.

Deidara decided that he did _not_ like the pineapple Jell-O.

He put the plate on his bedside table and looked at the pinkette who had gotten up to get something. She sat back down on her chair before she handed the blonde a whiteboard and a marker to write with.

"Alright, first things first, your name?" Sakura asked as she grabbed her clip board from off the side of his bed. Deidara easily wrote down his pseudonym; _Katsuhiko Kawamoto_. The lady doctor wrote that down on her paper and watched as Deidara erased his name and replaced it with:

_My papers are in my wallet. It's in tin with my watercolors under a trap door. _

"Are you serious?" Sakura asked, baffled. She and another doctor had searched through his bags for any hint to this mans identity. All they found were some lumps of charred clay, art supplies, a kunai, and a granola bar. Nothing out of the ordinary, except, Sakura couldn't help but ask herself _why_ a wandering artist would be carrying around burnt clay.

"We searched and _searched_—"

Deidara shook his head and scrawled something else down on his whiteboard.

_Get me my watercolors and I'll show you._

Sakura was quiet for a moment before she got up and left the room. Deidara sighed and stared at the ceiling.

_Did they take me out of their bingo books too?_ He wondered as he glanced at the scars he had from when he got his arms stitched back together. _Why haven't they recognized me? I don't look extremely different, un...Maybe the genjutsu I put on my gloves worked?_

"Ne, Kawamoto-san, this is it, right?" Sakura asked as she walked into the room again with his knapsack and the watercolor tin. Deidara nodded once as she handed him the tin. He gently pulled the lid off to reveal his overused and abused set of colors. Deidara looked around for something to pry the untouched orange pigment out of its' well. He eventually settled on using the spoon from his 'meal'. When the orange came out of its place, Deidara lifted the entire thing out of the tin and pulled out his ocean-blue wallet. Sakura raised her eyebrow at what he had just done.

_Such a stealthy hiding place._ Sakura thought as he handed her the wallet and started putting the watercolor tin back together. She flipped through the papers, papers that Deidara had paid someone to forge to look exactly like identification documents several years ago.

"Were you a Shinobi?" Sakura asked, catching Deidara off guard. He somehow managed to keep a straight face while he wrote down his reply.

_I retired right before the 4__th__ war._ Deidara inwardly grinned at his ingenious reply. Sakura nodded at the answer and then asked him:

"Why?"

Deidara sighed as he quickly came up with an answer: _Injuries_. Sakura gave him a puzzled look before he nodded towards his scarred arms.

"Ah." The kunoichi said as Deidara wiped away his writing on the board with the side of his arm. The blonde man was glad that his warden didn't ask more questions than necessary. However, there wasn't a chance in hell that he was going to let himself warm up to her. He just had to be a good boy for a couple weeks than then _bam! _He'd be right out of there. But, there was just one thing that bothered him about his plan.

_Will I ever be able to talk again?_ He held up the whiteboard to get her attention; she was staring out into space at the window.

"Oh, I checked that over when I was getting your food... And yeah, you'll need at least 5 months of silence starting right now to let the chords heal back up." She smiled sheepishly. "Or even _less_ since you're in good hands."

Deidara nodded slowly. He had stopped listening after he caught the 'at least 5 months' part. He laid his head back on his pillow and sighed. He wouldn't be able to order food for himself, make the usual sounds he made during a conversation like 'un', 'ugh', or 'you're a dumb ass', and worst of all: he wouldn't be able to blow his sculptures up.

_Damn it, life sucks, un._ Deidara thought as he thought about never being able to see his creations flare up and then disappear in a display of burning clay. He opened his eyes after a while to see Sakura putting things away.

He stole a glance at what looked like a brand new bingo book in her hands. He opened his mouth to tell her to not put it away, but then he realized that he was mute for the time being. Instead, he quickly snapped his fingers, making her turn around.

"Hm?" She asked as she came over to him. He pointed at the book and then at himself. Her eyebrow rose. "Why do you want the bingo book?"

Another half-frustrated sigh.

_I just want to check for someone._

"Alright..." Sakura said as she handed him the small book. He looked up at her for a moment; she was watching him closely. He sighed again; it seemed that was all he could manage to do without his voice. Deidara had picked up dozens of these things over the years and took pride of the charming photo he had above his stats. He had also memorized who he was sandwiched between and quickly flipped over to where he should've been.

_Nice._ _I'm officially dead. _He thought when flipped over the pages a couple times to find his profile missing. Deidara looked up at Sakura and handed the book back to her.

"Kawamoto-san, I've got to go tend to the other patients now." Sakura said as she hooked the clipboard up back in its place by the door. She looked back at him with a warm smile, "I'll see you tomorrow, then,"

He faked a smile and she walked out of his room and closed the door. Deidara closed his eyes and was relieved at the silence; Sakura talked too much for her own good.

.:.:.

The next day, Deidara woke up to the smell and sound of rain. He sighed contently to himself; cold mornings were good mornings. He decided a long time ago that he liked the rain as long as he wasn't standing underneath. Especially if he had clay in his hands. It muddled with the texture and turned the clay into globs of useless material.

Deidara looked around for something to push so he could get breakfast. He quickly found the button on the side of the bed, and soon, he was brought his breakfast by a nurse.

_Cute girl._ Deidara smirked daringly at the nurse, who just blushed and giggled as she left. He looked down at the tray on his lap. _Chicken noodle soup, soft white bread, orange juice, and oh dear god. It's back, un._

Deidara glared down at the yellow mass of Jell-O.

"Oh, good morning Sakura-sempai." The nurse said outside of his door and Deidara decided to eavesdrop while he ate. Not that he had a choice in the matter; these women were so damn noisy.

"You are _so _lucky," The nurse giggled. "Your patient is such a cutie. Don't you think so?"

"Uh, hehe. Thanks, Ai-chan...I think." He heard Sakura say. "I'm not in the position to say anything about—"

"Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting. When's your boyfriend coming back from his mission?"

"He gets to visit every 3 weeks, but the mission's probably going to last half a year."

"Does he bring you anything good?"

"Ai-chan!"

"Sorry!" Deidara rolled his eyes at the giggling. "It's just that, you _know_. He's _rich!_ And good looking! And—"

"Ah, Ai-chan, I have to get to _work_." Sakura said, indicating that she was ending the conversation right there. There was a slight giggling/mumbling coming from Ai when Sakura opened the door to Deidara's room. First thing he noticed; she looked a hot mess. Her hair was in complete disarray and she looked dead tired.

"Good morning Kawamoto-san." Sakura greeted with a cheery tone as she put down a pair of bags on the floor. She noticed that he was finishing up everything on his plate _except_ for the Jell-O.

"Oh, please don't tell me you don't like sweets either." Sakura smiled as she ran her fingers through her hair. Deidara raised his eyebrows at the comment. She shook her head and smiled instead. He decided he wasn't going to ask.

"Ne, how are you feeling?" She asked as she reached into one of the bags and pulled out a bunch of index cards. "Uh, snap twice if you're good, snap once if you're not good."

He snapped twice.

"That's great." Sakura nodded as she tore apart the plastic bindings on the cards. She crumpled the plastic with one hand and threw it over her shoulder. The plastic ball hit the wall above the trashcan before landing inside of it.

Deidara wasn't impressed.

She turned around and went over to the chair by his bedside and sat down. From the stack she held, she pulled out three; one red, one green, and the last was yellow.

"I don't want you to end up getting carpal tunnel with the white board." Sakura said with a pleasant smile as she pulled a pen out of her pocket and wrote on the back of each card. "Green means yes, or go. Red means no, or stop. Yellow means slow down or maybe."

Deidara lifted his eyebrows as she handed him the cards. It was just so...absurd. The blonde shook his head before he stared down at the cards. Sakura's chicken-scratch writing that was common among doctors like her amused him very slightly.

"Do you like sweets?" She suddenly asked. Deidara stared at her with narrowed eyes. She laughed. "Oh come on you big baby. Just do it, you'll thank me later."

He held up the green card.

"Then why aren't you eating the Jell-O?" She asked. He stared at her stubbornly and crossed his arms. Sakura ran her fingers through her hair.

"Is it the flavor or something?" Sakura asked and Deidara stared hard at the green card.

"Oh?" She smiled. "Really? What would you want? Lime?"

A glance at the red card.

"Strawberry?"

_I can't believe I'm doing this. I feel like such a _child, _un._ Deidara stared ahead of him for a moment before sighing and he held up the green card.

"Aw..." Sakura whined softly. "Strawberry's _my_ favorite."

He stared at his doctor.

She was so _weird._

"You know, I had to use a _lot_ of willpower _not_ to eat the strawberry one yesterday." She began, and Deidara sighed. He knew when women were about to start rambling, and he braced himself.

"But I thought 'Y'know, this guy _just_ lost his voice. I feel bad'." She continued. "So, it's _okay._ Maybe I can stop stealing the hospital's Jell-O for however long you're going to be here. They'll be very very happy."

_Is there a stronger word for weird out there, un? _Deidara asked himself as the image of Tobi flashed across his mind. _Oh _god _no._

There was a long moment of silence between them before Sakura lifted the tray off of his lap and went to the door. She gently set it down on the ground and then came back to his bedside where she took her seat.

"So, you paint, right?" Sakura asked, and he could tell she was trying to strike a conversation. He wasn't going to warm up to her, but...

He sighed in defeat and held up the green card.

"Oh, cool. I, personally, absolutely suck at drawing and stuff. Skills that girls should have in generally, really. Can't cook, can't dance, can't sing... It's pretty sad, actually." Sakura smiled as she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "But...I think I'm fine with that. I mean, you can't save someone's life by dancing and singing, right? I'm happy with what I can do."

Deidara considered her words and came to the conclusion that she wasn't a one-dimensional prude that he believed her to be. He watched as she looked out the window and took in a deep breath.

"I don't really like the rain. But I really love the _smell_." She said. "Someone should bottle it up and market it as cologne. I'd be the happiest girl in the world if my boyfriend smelt like _that_ instead of dried blood and metal for once."

"But then again...I don't know, it'd might make him more depressing since he's such a sourpuss all the time." Sakura said.

Deidara, however, was busy thinking about _ways_ to bottle up the smell of rain.

"He's like the complete opposite of me; doesn't like sunshine, doesn't like sweet things, doesn't like— Oh damn it, I'm going off again."

Deidara looked up at her as she rubbed the palms of her hands against her face. She looked up after a little bit at him.

"Sorry, Kawamoto-san." She apologized. "I get carried away sometimes and I talk too much and—"

He held the green card up. She glared, taking that as an insult. Deidara flinched as he quickly grabbed his whiteboard and scrawled something down.

_I meant, 'it's ok' not 'yes you talk too much'_

"Sorry." Sakura blushed and rubbed her temples. "Arghh, today is _not _my day."

Another long silence. Deidara felt a little bad for her, so he wrote another message down: _Who's your boyfriend?_

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the question and smiled gently.

"You might know him." She said with a soft laugh. Deidara then gave her the look: No I don't.

"He's pretty famous, I guess." Sakura said with a look of fondness swimming in her green eyes. His eyes narrowed slightly at the way she took in everything with a subtly he envied.

"My boyfriend is the one and only Uchiha Sasuke-kun." She finally said, not noticing the way her patient's eyes had widened and how rigid he had just went. He quickly relaxed after the initial shock, but the rain cloud of doom looming over his blonde head just wouldn't go away.

_Shit, un._ Deidara thought. _He'll recognize me if he sees me. I am so fucke—_

"But he's not coming back to visit from his mission for another three weeks. I saw him yesterday." Sakura said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "He really does hate coming to the hospital."

_I can't imagine why._ The blonde thought sarcastically. The hospital was the one place guys hated to go to; it reminded them of how many times they had previously needed to go there. That and most of the guys Deidara knew—used to know _detested_ getting help from someone _especially_ from _girl_ doctors.

Male pride, it was a dangerous thing. Deidara personally was fine with it; cute girls in nurse costumes were nice to look at in his opinion.

"Ah, I should start helping your neck heal faster." Sakura told him as she rubbed her small hands together to make them warmer. He watched as she got up and gently pushed him so that he was lying flat on the bed. The girl put her hand directly above the wound on the cast-like brace thing and Deidara closed his eyes.

He relaxed immediately when he some of the most wonderful chakra he'd ever felt before pump into his system. It was warm, gentle, _soothing_, even. Deidara wanted to go to sleep all of a sudden.

_Why can't sedatives ever feel like this_? He unconsciously asked himself as he let a quiet, content sigh escape from his lips.

Sakura smiled down at her patient—the look on people's faces while she helped them recover faster at the hospital was greatly satisfying. She soon removed her hands away from his neck and watched, fully amused, as he groggily opened his eyes.

_Ugh. That felt so damn nice, un._ Deidara thought to himself as he came crashing back down back to earth.

"Feeling better Kawamoto-san?" She asked, half giggling at him when he sat up. He reached for a card on his lap and held it up for her to see. She smiled pretty again.

It was green.

.

_She sinks in my mind as she sheds through her skin  
touch sight tastes like fire_

_._

-_ Dance Inside_ by The All American Rejects


End file.
